Cigarette butts kill millions of animals, fish and birds
Donna Williams July 03, 2007This June, a recent article in one of our newspapers, The Age, entitled "Smoking might be a choice, but what to do about the bunch of tossers choosing to pollute?" shocked me with its findings.

240 million cigarette butts a year are washed down storm water drains and end up in Melbourne’s water ways and finally Port Phillip Bay. They are part of the 7.2 billion cigarette butts tossed in Australia each year, part of an estimated 4.5 TRILLION cigarette butts tossed world wide which end up in waterways and oceans, leaking traces of 4000 toxic chemicals found in cigarette smoke and take 12 years to decompose.

These are estimated to kill millions of animals, fish and birds each year. Just a little cigarette, huh? Victorian tax payers here in Australian will now finance the $1.2 million dollar “Don’t Be a Tosser” campaign aimed at the 18% of smokers in this state. If smoking is all about choice, we must also consider the choices do we have about our wildlife, waterways and the life reliant on these

What's worse than litter? The possible fires that are started due to this bad habit. I have even included a story of a baby badly burned due to a passing motorist throwing out his/her cig and it finding its way into the seat of a four month old child.
Some places it is illegal as well, best know which places or you may end up with a hefty fine.

It is really ,really, really bad for the environment. I smoke, but never, ever throw them out the window. It amazes me how people that wouldn't think of throwing a gum wrapper on the ground have no problem with a cigarette butt!